Conferences and debates
Index / Activities / Conferences and debates / Karimite Merchants: Co-existence, bazaars and routes from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean in early globalization
Karimite Merchants: Co-existence, bazaars and routes from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean in early globalization
March 10, 2026 7:00 p.m.
CORDOBA
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.
On the upcoming date of March 10, Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Cordoba will be hosting a conference by Robert Lanquar, an expert on tourism and international development. Come listen to him and discover how Islamic trade networks made a decisive contribution to the creation of an interconnected space long before modern-day globalization.
During his talk, Lanquar will be providing an understandable but solid overview of the origins of this early globalization in the form of incense and silk routes, which connected the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean, forming a vast space for commercial, cultural and religious trade.
The conference will focus on the great Karimite merchants, key role-players of the medieval Islamic trade infrastructure, analyzing their contacts and forms of practical coexistence with other merchant networks, such as the Jewish Radhanites. By looking at these examples, we will explore how bazaars, ports and caravanserais—or funduqs—made long-distance trade possible, providing help in the form of institutions based on trust, credit and reputation.
The talk will also include the ethical factors involved in commercial trade, with references to thinkers like Al-Ghazali and Ibn Khaldun, ending by highlighting the essential role played by diasporas in the circulation of goods, ideas and values in the pre-modern world.
The event is is an opportunity to understand how Islamic trade networks made a decisive contribution to the formation of an interconnected space long before modern-day globalization.
Robert Lanquar has a PhD from the University of Aix-en-Provence (France) and a PhD from Texas A&M University (United States). Throughout his career, he has held positions as an international civil servant at the World Tourism Organization, as well as being the coordinator of the Blue Plan for the Mediterranean. At present, he is managing projects for several international organizations and is an associate professor at the University of Alcalá. Having authored 12 books on international tourism, his writings have been translated into several languages and are a reference in the field of tourism planning and development.
Image: fourteenth-century illustration titled El Prestamista (or The Lender), taken from the manuscript Tratado sobre los Vicios (Treatise on Vices). British Library of London (Add MS 27695, f.7v).
The conference will focus on the great Karimite merchants, key role-players of the medieval Islamic trade infrastructure, analyzing their contacts and forms of practical coexistence with other merchant networks, such as the Jewish Radhanites. By looking at these examples, we will explore how bazaars, ports and caravanserais—or funduqs—made long-distance trade possible, providing help in the form of institutions based on trust, credit and reputation.
The talk will also include the ethical factors involved in commercial trade, with references to thinkers like Al-Ghazali and Ibn Khaldun, ending by highlighting the essential role played by diasporas in the circulation of goods, ideas and values in the pre-modern world.
The event is is an opportunity to understand how Islamic trade networks made a decisive contribution to the formation of an interconnected space long before modern-day globalization.
Robert Lanquar has a PhD from the University of Aix-en-Provence (France) and a PhD from Texas A&M University (United States). Throughout his career, he has held positions as an international civil servant at the World Tourism Organization, as well as being the coordinator of the Blue Plan for the Mediterranean. At present, he is managing projects for several international organizations and is an associate professor at the University of Alcalá. Having authored 12 books on international tourism, his writings have been translated into several languages and are a reference in the field of tourism planning and development.
Image: fourteenth-century illustration titled El Prestamista (or The Lender), taken from the manuscript Tratado sobre los Vicios (Treatise on Vices). British Library of London (Add MS 27695, f.7v).
“The Lender,” taken from the manuscript “Treatise on Vices.” British Library of London (Add MS 27695, f.7v).